ELON — An avid golfer, Adam Shreiner applies similar mechanical terms from his golf swing to kicking a football.

And to borrow from the golfing lexicon, he has been hitting it on the screws for Elon University.

Nobody among the 122 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision has connected on more field goals this season than Shreiner, a redshirt senior who’s in his fourth year as Elon’s kicker.

He has hit 10 of 12 field-goal attempts through five games, easily the Southern Conference leader in both categories. Nationally, only Delaware’s Sean Baner (10 of 11) has made as many.

“You see how many attempts I’m getting this year, you’re really able to get into a groove,” Shreiner said. “It’s not so much a confidence thing as it is a comfort thing.

“When you’re out there three times a game kicking field goals — and really makeable field goals, you’re not kicking 48-yarders every time — you just get really, really comfortable. That, I think, is more a factor this year.”

More key components are at work, too, such as the consistency coursing between snapper Michael Crispi and holder Mike Quinn, a reliable operation that Shreiner is quick to praise.

With Elon (2-3 overall, 0-2 league) preparing to play at No. 15 Appalachian State (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday, Shreiner has nailed eight straight field-goal tries after his 3-for-3 effort despite rainy conditions and wet turf last week against Wofford.

Extend the sample size back to the final five games of last year and Shreiner has been good on 15 of his last 17 field goals, with a career-long 50-yarder to boot.

That’s marked progress from 2010, when his sophomore season became a struggle. He went 7-for-14 on field goals, a total hampered by 3-for-9 accuracy from distances of 30 yards and beyond.

So what’s the difference?

“I say coaching,” Shreiner said, pointing first to what he considers an invaluable relationship with volunteer assistant coach Mitch Rippy, a former Elon kicking standout, who returned to help the Phoenix upon coach Jason Swepson’s arrival in 2011.

Shreiner and Rippy speak the same kicking language, a trust factor and support system that no doubt have contributed to Elon’s recent red-zone efficiency.

The Phoenix has produced points on its last nine trips inside its opponents’ 20-yard line.

“Even from the first spring when Coach Rippy came back in 2011,” Shreiner said, “I noticed immediately, just having that set of eyes to watch me kick. And then more importantly, having a guy there who knows what I’m going through.

“On game day, on the sideline, I’m not the only person who knows what’s going through my mind. He knows what’s going on inside my head and he knows how to get through that.”

Page 2 of 2 - Meanwhile, the more technical aspects have been sharpened during summer stays in Prattville, Ala., where Shreiner has learned under Mike McCabe, founder and president of One on One Kicking camps.

Shreiner has spent the last two Junes there, training alongside other college kickers during daily sessions.

“That’s really been a huge thing for me,” he said.

It all has added up to an improved Shreiner, dialed in on kicks and shouldering increased leadership as an Elon team captain this season.

Three years ago in 2009, Shreiner was a redshirt freshman thrust into some pressure-packed situations as the Phoenix, fueled by veterans, went 9-3 and reached the FCS playoffs.

Now, as a fifth-year senior on a team with 40 freshmen, Shreiner pops his head into Swepson’s office for captain-to-coach talks.

In the summer months, with the strength and conditioning staff only permitted to oversee workouts, Swepson said quick reports from Shreiner were essential in aiding his understanding of Elon’s massive incoming class.

“He would come in and say, ‘This kid’s working hard; this guy’s pretty good,’ ” Swepson said. “It was just a refreshing, pleasant surprise. And then you’d hear how well he’s leading us, him being vocal and the kids adapting to him, even though he’s a kicker. That shows you the team has that much respect for him.

“That’s why we made him captain. We noticed his hard work, his leadership. We all agreed that he deserved it.”